• The two rules of personal organization

    Generalists who juggle multiple projects often need to stop-and-go on them at different times. The only reason I can pull this off is because I'm careful about organizing and documenting my ideas, knowledge, and work. And good organization is easy. There are only two rules.

     
  • Laziness death spirals

    Laziness/procrastination has a kind of independent momentum to it. When you're having an off day, even if you consciously commit to getting back on track, the rut tends to find its way back to you within a couple of hours. I list three different courses of action you can take to get out of a laziness death spiral.

     
  • gif of me jumping over a concrete block

    Micro-retirements

    Generalists sometimes need to take things "off the table" in their lives, sometimes permanently. A micro-retirement is the letting go of a single activity in your life to make room for other things. I've found that using the mindset of retirement is more acceptable, psychologically, than "forcing myself to quit" or something like that. "Quitting" implies dissatisfaction, which is why I never considered "quitting" parkour. "Retirement" implies completion, which is, at worst, bittersweet.